A trio of open Assembly races drew heavy spending and crowded candidate fields in this year’s June 2 primary, for which ballots are still being counted, but a picture of who will go on to the November election is still emerging.
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In the 67th Assembly District, Republican Paulo Morales held onto his lead as of Friday for the seat being vacated by longtime Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton), with Democratic candidate Mark Pulido in second with about 25% of the vote. Democrat Ada Briceño, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11 and former chair of the OC Democratic Party, trailed in third with about 20%.
The top two votegetters, once ballot counting is complete and the election is certified, will go on to the November election for the seat.
“When I announced, I knew the forces that I’ve fought against my entire life would be against me, but I kept fighting because the people of this district are worth fighting for,” Briceño said in a Thursday evening statement conceding the race. “We were outspent by a larger margin than any legislative campaign in California’s history, and we kept fighting because we knew we were on the right side of history.”
The district, which includes the Los Angeles County cities of Hawaiian Gardens, Cerritos and Artesia, along with Orange County’s Cypress, Buena Park and Fullerton, has been among California’s most expensive legislative races this election cycle. It drew a field of six candidates.
A total of 264,876 voters are registered in the district.
In the race for the 68th Assembly District, two Santa Ana councilmembers were among the four candidates who squared off for the seat currently held by Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim), who is running for state Senate instead of seeking re-election.
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The district includes Anaheim, Santa Ana and Orange.
But it is Santa Ana business owner Mayra Ruiz, the race’s lone Republican candidate, who was leading in the latest update of the count, followed by Councilmember David Penaloza. Councilmember Jessie Lopez was running third. Ruiz and Penaloza, the top two vote-getters so far, would advance to the November general election if that holds.
Meanwhile, in the 72nd Assembly District, Democrat Chris Kluwe, a former NFL player, held the lead as of Friday, with former Huntington Beach Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark in second. The two appeared pretty likely to go on to November; trailing more than 20,000 votes behind in third place is Matthew Harper.
The district stretches along the Orange County coast from Seal Beach to Laguna Beach and includes the inland communities of Aliso Viejo, Laguna Woods and Lake Forest.
The seat is currently held by Republican Diane Dixon, who is not seeking re-election and is instead running for the Orange County Board of Supervisors’ Fifth District seat.
The other six Assembly districts that appeared on the June 2 ballot had just two candidates each, so they will push on to November. Those districts are the 59th, 64th, 70th, 71st, 73rd and 74th.
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